With demand for in-person corporate events returning to pre-pandemic levels, it’s more important than ever for hotels to remain competitive. Whether you’re hosting a small conference with a few dozen guests or expecting thousands of attendees, your clients demand impressive digital displays with enhanced capabilities. This requires an effective digital signage strategy to help give you the edge.

Experiencing the full profitability of a comprehensive digital signage strategy can be as simple as finding the right partner. When you work with an experienced technology service provider instead of managing digital signage in-house, your staff can focus on other important responsibilities. But as you may have already experienced, not all digital signage service providers are created equal. The wrong vendor could cost your team precious time, keep you from maximizing your investments, negatively affect your hotel’s reputation, and cause you to miss out on important revenue opportunities.

To avoid these potential costs, we recommend you ask these three central questions when considering a digital signage service provider.

Question 1: Is your vendor providing services as a supplier or a partner?

A digital signage vendor that acts primarily as a supplier will sell and install digital signage while not adequately supporting and servicing their customers. While these companies may claim to offer outstanding support, suppliers are often difficult to reach or undependable when you need them most. This can place an unnecessary burden on your team when they’re at their busiest.

In addition to a lack of support, poor planning and a lack of expertise could result in inadequate infrastructure and end up saddling you with poorly designed software featuring limited functionality. Suppliers like these can prevent you from delivering optimal guest experiences, which can, in turn, lead to negative reviews and a loss of future business.

In contrast, however, a reliable digital signage partner will have your best interest in mind and act as a trusted advisor every step of the way, from signage installation to developing strategies that will increase the value of your technology. With specialized knowledge and expertise, a digital signage partner can offer valuable insights and advice on the best hardware, software and visual approach to achieve the greatest profitability.

Question 2: Does your vendor take the lead or wait for directions?

Daily hotel operations involve a multitude of finely orchestrated activities, which only intensify in the midst of large corporate events and conventions. So, it's vital that you have access to the right support when you need it most. An unreliable supplier may take hours or even days to respond, resulting in added stress on your staff and subpar guest experiences that are harmful to your hotel’s reputation. Instead, a trustworthy digital signage partner will proactively monitor for potential issues and take initiative to minimize downtime and facilitate smooth operations.

Question 3: Is your vendor there for you in your time of need?

The reality of technology is that no matter how advanced, issues are bound to occur. So it’s important that your digital signage vendor offers an option for immediate response and resolution of technical support requests. Having to continually follow up with a vendor to get the timely support they promised means your team’s time is continually tied up in vendor management instead of assisting guests. These distractions can lead to frustration for your teams and poor experiences for clients, sponsors, and guests.

In addition, event planners and sponsors often require last-minute changes to digital signage content, including rescheduling, adding, changing, or recreating graphics. This can impact all or just specific digital screens across the property. The right digital signage partner is there to remove friction and roadblocks and work hand-in-hand with your team to ensure hotel business and corporate events go off without a hitch.

Beyond the question posed above, other questions you may want to ask include: Can we reach a live person, or do we have to send multiple emails before getting a response? Was the support department equipped to diagnose and repair the issue as they promised? Were there hidden costs for software updates, technical support and content creation? Although the vendor promised to respond in a timely manner, did 24 hours actually mean 24 hours?

If your answers to these additional questions concern you, it may be time to reconsider the relationship.

Consider Xpodigital

Partnering with the right digital signage service provider will not only give you a competitive edge, but it can help mitigate the cost of the hardware, improve your technology infrastructure, and maximize revenues for your property. Plus, partnering with experts allows you to enjoy all the benefits of digital signage without the headaches.

Xpodigital is a full-service digital signage partner most trusted by hospitality and events professionals to deliver flawless digital experiences. By entrusting your digital signage management to Xpodigital, your venue can ensure its technology is up-to-date, visually impressive, fully supported and delivering maximum ROI for the business.

Xpodigital can help:

●      Find cost-effective ways to maximize digital signage revenue this year

●      Optimize spaces and screens for greater profitability

●      Fully design and manage content across screens and properties

●      Equip and support your team in selling ad space

If you’re looking to work with a digital signage partner that you can trust, consider Xpodigital. Learn more at: xpodigital.com/digital-signage